Learning Performances and Standards

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National Science Education Standards:

  • As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding about scientific inquiry.
  • As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of population and ecosystems.
  • As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of diversity and adaptations of organisms.
  • As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of change, constancy and measurement.

Rhode Island State Subheadings for Unifying Themes of Science (concepts to be addressed):

  • Collect Data
  • Communicate Understanding and Ideas
  • Design and Conduct Investigations
  • Represent, Analyze, and Interpret Data
  • Experimental Design
  • Observe
  • Predict
  • Question and Hypothesize
  • Use Evidence to Draw Conclusions
  • Use Tools and Techniques

This unit is designed to address scientific inquiry. Specifically, students will be actively engaged in all the activities. They will be participating as real world "scientists". They will be proposing a hypothesis on the water quality based on their initial physical observations prior to any chemical testing. They will then be engaged in various water- sampling activities.

What Students Need to Understand Before Addressing the Standards (Unpacking National Science Standards):

  • The steps involved in designing a scientific experiment
(1. Naming the problem or question, 2. Forming a hypothesis of the cause of the problem and making predictions based upon the hypothesis, 3. Testing the hypothesis by performing an experiment, 4. Checking and interpreting the results, 5. Reporting the results)
  • Definition of an ecosystem
  • Definition of a population
  • Be able to explain the concept of adaptation of organisms
  • Would need to know the definitions of change, constancy, and measurement
  • Would need to know how to handle different experimental kits
  • Would need to be familiar with the pH scale
  • Would need to be able to explain the importance of dissolved oxygen on living organisms in water
  • Would need to explain the effect of nitrates and phosphates on an aquatic ecosystem

Some Probable Misconceptions that Students may hold:

  • May be unfamiliar with the use of models to study phenomena
  • May think that water organisms don't need oxygen to survive
  • May not realize that human actions can have an effect on the quality of water in ponds

Learning Objectives/Performances for the Unit:

  • Will learn to measure the temperature of water
  • Will identify and describe macroinvertebrates found in the pond
  • Will represent data and interpret representations by posting data on the online Project Website
  • Will design and conduct investigations (by constructing a hypothesis, constructing procedures to help explore the hypothesis, analyzing the results, and drawing final conclusions)
  • Will analyze and interpret data: based on some of the macro organisms that they will find, students can figure out their required pH and Dissolved Oxygen levels. Conversely, based on the pH and Dissolved Oxygen data collected, students can deduct which macro organisms could be found in those conditions
  • Evaluating and Reflecting: based on all the collected data about water quality and the living organisms, students will revisit their initial hypothesis and determine if the data supports or refutes it. Also, at this point, students will be able to reflect on this whole unit.

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